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Q&A: The World Bank’s Stephen Rimmer

The private sector development specialist recommends reforms for Iraq to open its markets to foreign and Iraqi private investment.
Construction workers restore the Victory Arch, a Saddam Hussein-era monument. Iraq's economy, which was devastated by decades of war and sanctions, is largely controlled by the state; international organizations like the World Bank are pushing Iraq to grow its private sector. (BEN VAN HEUVELEN/Iraq Oil Report)

BAGHDAD - In a post-conflict country whose oil sector generates over 90 percent of state revenue but employs less than one percent of the workforce, successful reconstruction depends on smart economic policy.

The World Bank is one of several international organization pushing Iraq to open up its private sector to foreign investment. According to Stephen Rimmer, a senior private sector development specialist at the bank, one key to success is the creation of competitive markets.

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